Barium iodide single-crystal scintillator detectors

We find that the high-Z crystal Barium Iodide is readily growable by the Bridgman growth technique and is less prone to crack compared to Lanthanum Halides. We have grown Barium Iodide crystals: undoped, doped with Ce{sup 3+}, and doped with Eu{sup 2+}. Radioluminescence spectra and time-resolved decay were measured. BaI{sub 2}(Eu) exhibits luminescence from both Eu{sup 2+} at 420 nm ({approx}450 ns decay), and a broad band at 550 nm ({approx}3 {micro}s decay) that we assign to a trapped exciton. The 550 nm luminescence decreases relative to the Eu{sup 2+} luminescence when the Barium Iodide is zone refined prior to crystal growth. We also describe the performance of BaI{sub 2}(Eu) crystals in experimental scintillator detectors.